Adolf von Danckelmann (also Dankelmann), a German adventurer and mining superintendent in Saxony-Coburg, arrived at the Cape in 1803, on his return to Europe from Batavia (now Jakarta, Indonesia). He decided to remain for some time, on account of the war raging between France and England. Offering his services as engineer and geologist to the Cape government, he was sent to Algoa Bay to investigate a lead deposit found by Captain von Dhen. During his stay he also investigated an iron meteorite that had been brought from the interior some ten years earlier. The results were published in a paper, "Nachricht von einer grossen Masse gediegenen Eisens welche im Jahre 1793 aus dem Inneren von Afrika nach der Capstadt (von Barrow) gebracht worden, nebst oryktognostischer Beschreibung derselben". The paper was published in Germany in Voigt's Magazin (1805, Vol. 10, pp. 3-21). The claim in the title that the meteorite was brought to Cape Town by Barrow* is probably wrong, as he arrived at the Cape only in 1797.

List of sources:

Adolph von Danckelmann. In Wikipedia, Die freie Enzyklopaedie. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolph_von_Danckelmann_(Legationsrat)

Hall, A.L. A bibliography of South African geology to the end of 1920. Pretoria: Geological Survey, Memoir No. 18, 1922.

Hoge, J. Personalia of the Germans at the Cape, 1652-1806. Archives Yearbook for South African History, 9th year. Cape Town: Government Printer, n.d.

Moritz, E. Die Deutschen am Kap unter den Hollaendischen Herrrschaft, 1652-1806 (p. 55). Weimar: H. Boehlaus, 1938.

Compiled by: C. Plug

Last updated: 2020-04-23 17:30:14